Brian Wilson’s favourite songs by his favourite artists
As the condolences and obituaries ring around the music world following the death of Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys maestro and principal songwriter’s gentle presence naturally graces the airwaves and news cycle amid the heavy media coverage of pop’s seismic loss.
For many, Wilson’s celestial gems such as ‘God Only Knows’ or ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ stirred something pure and uncalculated in their emotional unveil, deeper and more whimsical than anything from The Beatles’ voluminous songbook.
While obvious celebrations of Wilson’s career are devoted to his inventive pop craft and pioneering studio mastery, what’s most strikingly endearing about the late “genius” is how much of an unabashed music fan he is. Admittedly, his grasp on pop trends had halted for about 50 years, but how he talked about the records and artists of his youth and formative musical developments is filled with a level of love any big name would be so lucky to count among their fanbase.
In 2003, during a world tour, Wilson answered a quick-fire question session on his most-loved songs from his favourite artists. Serving as a warm-up, Wilson revealed that a personal favourite album he was attached to was curiously 1977’s The Beach Boys Love You, the maligned detour into proto-synthpop smattering the band’s Californian harmonies with Minimoog and ARP-2600 tonalities. As for the best song he’d ever written, Wilson plumped for 1965’s ‘California Girls‘ from Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), a sunny pop number inspired by his first dose of LSD.
With half a second’s waver, the question of The Beatles’ finest number triggered an oh-so-close “He…” which suspiciously sounds like ‘Hey Jude’ before correcting himself and opting for Let It Be‘s stirring title track. It’s one of the last times Paul McCartney would roll so boldly, written before the Abbey Road sessions that feature none of his numbers on the same level and the swift nosedive into his decades-long solo underwhelm.
Jumping from the Fab Four to their British invasion rivals, nostalgia may have informed Wilson’s pick of ‘My Obsession’ as his favourite from The Rolling Stones, having been present during parts of the Between the Buttons sessions in 1966 and sharing a joint with the band during that song’s recording. When casting his mind back to the early 1960s surf rock explosion, the Jan & Dean duo with whom he’d collaborated and helped push to fame had a 1964 hit with ‘The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)’ that Wilson held up as their best work.
Pioneering folk rock act, The Byrds’ best number in Wilson’s estimation offered little surprises with 1965’s ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!‘, and anyone who knows The Beach Boys visionary wouldn’t need to ask his favourite Ronettes piece, with 1963’s ‘Be My Baby’ often voiced by Wilson over the years as his favourite song of all time. He even compared producer Phil Spector’s alchemic studio craft to Einstein’s Theory of relativity for music.
When responding to The Shirelles, he offers ‘Happy Birthday Baby’, which is either a deep, deep cut or a misremembered title, before rounding off the list with Carole King’s ‘Hey Girl’ and James Taylor’s ‘Fire and Rain’. Always honest and expressing his musical loves without a hint of impressing anybody, a peek into Wilson’s cherished songbook is certainly a captivating opportunity.
